Continuous letter forms



May 16, 1967 J, H. HAYES, JR

CONTINUOUS LETTER FORMS Filed on. 29, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR J'- H-HAYES,:YR-

BY mam-w ATTORNEYS y 16, 1967 J. H. HAYES, JR

CONTINUOUS LETTER FORMS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 29, 1965 i 84- So ag-s INVENTOR 3'- H. HAYES TR. WQJLQFLWMQU fwwci ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,319,371 CONTINUOUS LETTER FORMS John H. Hayes, Jr., Box 825, Bristol, Va. 24201 Filed Oct. 29, 1965, Ser. No. 505,659 4 Claims. ((11. 22969) This invention relates to letter sheets of the general type which can be folded and sealed and mailed without a covering envelope, and particularly to letter sheets of the type which may be used .in business machines that automatically print out information upon forms connected together continuously.

Letter sheets are known in the art which can be folded to conceal the written message, and which permits typing the name and address of the person to whom the letter is to be sent and the message with but a single insertion of the sheet in a typewriter. This eliminates the need for separate addressing of an envelope and insertion of the sheet in an envelope. It also eliminates the requirement of reversing the sheet to place the address on the opposite side, as is required with conventional sheets which foldup to form a sealed article for mailing.

' Such letter sheets contain glue areas to form seals at the sides of the folded sheet and along the top and bottom edges. This requires adhesion of both the top and bottom panel with the intermediate panel.

The present invention has for its principal object the provision of a continuous form letter sheet which can be folded and sealed, with provision for adhesive between the outside panels of the folded form without need for separate attachment of the outside panels to the intermediate panels.

A more specific object is to provide an improved letter sheet which has portions of an intermediate panel cut out to permit adhesive contact of the end panels through the cutouts when the sheet is folded.

Another object of the invention is to provide a letter sheet of plurality sheet length to provide for typing plural sheet letters, or for making carbon copies, wherein the sheets can be folded into superimposed relation, and the superimposed sheets folded as a unit, with sealing contact being made by parts of the first sheet only.

A further object is to provide sheets of plural unit length with one of the sheets being removable by the recipient and resealable for use as a return mailing piece.

Yet another object is the provision of means in a letter sheet adapted to be folded, sealed and mailed without a cover to prevent severance along the fold lines of the sheet if the folded sheet should accidentally be placed in an automatic letter opener.

Another object of this invention is the provision of an improved continuous form letter sheet in which individual letter sheets having a plurality of panels are interconnected in a continuous manner and adapted to be moved through automatic business machines by means of a detachable carrying strip located alongside the entire length of the letter sheet.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent from the following description of practical embodiments thereof, when taken in conjunction with the drawings which accompany, and form part of, this specification.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the letter sheet for use as a continuous print-out form;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the letter sheet of FIGURE 1 showing portions of the sheet being torn away;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of the letter sheet of FIGURE 1 after it has been separated from the continuous form being folded;

3,319,871 Patented May 16, 1967 FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of the letter sheet of FIGURE 3 showing the proper method of opening by the recipient;

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 6 is a perspective View of a modification of the continuous form letter sheet showing the middle panel of each individual letter sheet having a portion of the marginal edges eliminated during manufacture;

FIGURE 7 is a perspective view of an individual letter sheet of FIGURE 6 stripped from the continuous form showing portions of the sheet being torn away; and

FIGURE 8 is a section view taken along lines 8-8 of FIGURE 7.

Referring to the drawings wherein like reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several figures, the basic letter sheet of the invention shown in FIGURES 1-5 comprises a letter sheet 160 which is divided by a plurality of score lines 161 and 162 in order that three adjacently disposed panels 163, 164 and 165 may be formed. The sheet may be simply folded to form the panels or, as is preferable, the sheet will be prescored to insure proper folding and through registry of the panels in overlying relation when the letter sheet is fan-folded. The present invention utilizes the concept of continuous forms for business machines in which a plurality of letter sheets 16!) will be adjacently disposed in end-to-end relation and separated by tear lines 166.

This form is adapted to be machine utilized and, therefore, is provided with a perforated sprocket tearing driving tab 167, in which there is located spaced perforations 168 which will effect movement of the letter sheet through the business machine by a suitable sprocket drive. It is contemplated that the top panel 163 will form the front of the sealed mailing piece and it will have the senders name and address in the upper left corner and a stamp preferably located in the upper right corner. When the sheet is inserted in a typewriter, the name and address of the recipient will be generally located centrally of the panel 163 and the message or the body of the letter will be typed within the area defined by panels 164 and 165. This allows all necessary typing to be done with but a single insertion of the sheet within the typewriter. Such a procedure applies equally well to the business machine which utilizes continuous forms in that all typing or other printing will be done as the letter sheet is moved through the machine.

Once the interconnected letter sheets emerge from the machine, the drive tabs 167 are removed in the manner shown by FIGURE 2 by tearing along tear lines 169 leaving on the basic letter sheet 166 its associated marginal edges 170 and 171. At any convenient time, the letter sheets may be separated from one another by tearing along lines 166.

When the letter sheet is ready for mailing, it is folded along score lines 161 and 162 to cause the panels to overlie one another. The sheet is fan-folded so that the back of panels 153 and 164 are in contact and the fronts of panels 164 and are in contact. This will leave exposed the face of panel 163 with its address and return address and will thereby conceal the message upon panels 164, 165. After the letter sheet has been fan-folded in the manner shown by FIGURE 3, the marginal edges are secured to marginal edges 171 through the cutout areas of panel 174. It is anticipated that glue 172 will be required to have been previously placed upon one set of marginal edges such as indicated upon edges 170. The side edges of panel 164 are notched to a depth as great as or greater than the marginal area occupied by the glue 172. This allows adhesive contact between the front and back sections of the folded letter sheet to hold all of the folded sections together without need for'adherence between each of the face panels.

When the letter sheet 160 is received by the recipient, it is merely necessary to remove the glued together marginal edges 170 and 171 by tearing them along tear lines 173, as indicated by FIGURE 4, and this will immediately allow the letter sheet 160 to be opened for inspection.

Another form of the letter sheet of this invention is shown in FIGURES 6-8 in which the continuous form letter sheet 180 is divided by score lines @181 and 182 into panels 183, 184 and 185. In this modification the letter sheet 160 is a continuous form having a plurality of sheets interconnected by tear lines 186. This particular form, like that previously described, is adapted to be used with a machine and, therefore, is provided with a perforated sprocket carrying drive tab 187 having perforations 188. The drive tabs 187 are located along each side of the sheet and the tabs are adapted to be torn off along tear lines 189 after printing or other utilization of the letter sheet takes place.

It is anticipated that the letter sheet of this particular embodiment will come preformed with die cut-out areas 190 which would simplify the tearing of drive tabs 187 from the letter sheets. The die cut-out areas 190 have a length corresponding to the width of panel 184. Therefore, as the drive tab strips -'187 are removed, the basic letter sheet is left with marginal edges 191 and 192 and the folding operation would be the same as described with respect to FIGURE 3. The letter sheet could be fanfolded so as to position marginal edge 191 with its associated glued area 193 superimposed over marginal edge 192 to effect sealing of the letter sheet. After the letter sheet has been received, the marginal edges 191 and 192 would be removed from the letter sheet by tearing along tear lines 194.

Various modifications may be made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, and it is desired, therefore, that only such limitations shall be placed thereon as are imposed by the prior art and are set forth in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A continuous series of joined letter sheets each of whch are transversely scored to define a top, bottom and at least one intermediate panel, the letter sheets adapted to be folded about the score lines to position the panels in superposed overlying relation with the top and bottom panels having detachable marginal edges, the intermediate panel being of a width less than the total width of each of the other panels and their associated marginal edges, a marginal sprocket drive tab being detachably connected adjacent the length of the detachable marginal edges of the top and bottom panels, the drive tab having a plurality of sprocket openings along the length thereof, the top and bottom panels adapted to be folded to position the marginal edges of each panel in superposed relation thereby permitting surface contact of the marginal edges of the top and bottom panels, adhesive positioned on selected portions of the marginal edges of at least one of the panels wherein the marginal edges having the adhesive will extend past the marginal extent of the intermediate panel when the sheet is folded for registry whereby the drive tab is adapted to be removed from the letter sheet and the marginal edges of the top and bottom panels adhered to one another with the intermediate panel positioned therebetween.

2. The continuous letter sheet set forth in claim 1 wherein the marginal sprocket drive tab is of greater width adjacent the intermediate panel than adjacent the top and bottom panels, the drive tab being detachably interconnected along the length of the intermediate panel.

3. The continuous letter sheet set forth in claim 1 wherein the marginal sprocket drive tab is of constant width throughout, an aperture formed between the sprocket drive tab and the intermediate panel.

4. The continuous letter sheet set forth in claim 3 wherein the aperture is of trapezoidal configuration and has a length at least eqhal to the depth of the intermediate panel.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 3/1962 Stratton et al. 229--69 1/1966 Hayes 22992.1 

1. A CONTINUOUS SERIES OF JOINED LETTER SHEETS EACH OF WHICH ARE TRANSVERSELY SCORED TO DEFINE A TOP, BOTTOM AND AT LEAST ONE INTERMEDIATE PANEL, THE LETTER SHEETS ADAPTED TO BE FOLDED ABOUT THE SCORE LINES TO POSITION THE PANELS IN SUPERPOSED OVERLYING RELATION WITH THE TOP AND BOTTOM PANELS HAVING DETACHABLE MARGINAL EDGES, THE INTERMEDIATE PANEL BEING OF A WIDTH LESS THAN THE TOTAL WIDTH OF EACH OF THE OTHER PANELS AND THEIR ASSOCIATED MARGINAL EDGES, A MARGINAL SPROCKET DRIVE TAB BEING DETACHABLY CONNECTED ADJACENT THE LENGTH OF THE DETACHABLE MARGINAL EDGES OF THE TOP AND BOTTOM PANELS, THE DRIVE TAB HAVING A PLURALITY OF SPROCKET OPENINGS ALONG THE LENGTH THEREOF, THE TOP AND BOTTOM PANELS ADAPTED TO BE FOLDED TO POSITION THE MARGINAL EDGES OF EACH PANEL IN SUPERPOSED RELATION THEREBY PERMITTING SURFACE CONTACT OF THE MARGINAL EDGES OF THE TOP AND BOTTOM PANELS, ADHESIVE POSITIONED ON SELECTED PORTIONS OF THE MARGINAL EDGES OF AT LEAST ONE OF THE PANELS WHEREIN THE MARGINAL EDGES HAVING THE ADHESIVE WILL EXTEND PAST THE MARGINAL EXTENT OF THE INTERMEDIATE PANEL WHEN THE SHEET IS FOLDED FOR REGISTRY WHEREBY THE DRIVE TAB IS ADAPTED TO BE REMOVED FROM THE LETTER SHEET AND THE MARGINAL EDGES OF THE TOP AND BOTTOM PANELS ADHERED TO ONE ANOTHER WITH THE INTERMEDIATE PANEL POSITIONED THEREBETWEEN. 